Ispectrum Magazine Ispectrum Magazine #03 | Page 41

Antikythera mechanism When it comes to it being a treasure, I shall quote Professor Michael Edmunds of Cardiff University who led a 2006 study of the mechanism: do it. Life back then was a struggle just to survive, without lugging massive rocks about. I love the Carnac myth that the reason the stones are in such straight lines is because they’re a Roman legion turned to stone by Merlin. If only archaeologists could prove it. Source: Centre des monuments nationaux. Next must feature the world’s first computer. No, not the Apple, the Antikythera Mechanism. Made to calculate astronomical positions. It has been dated to the early first century BCE (BC for Christians, political correctness gone mad). Technological artifacts approaching its complexity and workmanship didn’t appear again until the 14th century when mechanical astronomical clocks began to be built in Western Europe. 40 “This device is extraordinary, the only thing of its kind. The design is beautiful, the astronomy is exactly right. The way the mechanics are designed makes your jaw drop...in terms of historic and scarcity value, I have to regard this mechanism as being more valuable than the Mona Lisa”.